Lencia Kebede and Allie Trimm to Lead Wicked on Broadway | Playbill

Broadway News Lencia Kebede and Allie Trimm to Lead Wicked on Broadway

Kebede will be the first Black actor to play Elphaba full time on Broadway.

Lencia Kebede and Allie Trimm

Wicked has found its new witches! 

Hot on the heels of the mega-hit screen adaptation, Wicked will welcome new witches to Oz, with a historic first.

On March 4, Lencia Kebede (Hamilton) will don the crooked hat as Elphaba Thropp, joining the world of Oz for the first time. Kebede will be the first Black actor to play Elphaba full time on Broadway (though Black actors have played the role in an understudy and standby capacity, including Saycon Sengbloh, Lilli Cooper, and Brandi Chavonne Massey). Kebede will be joined by Allie Trimm as Glinda, who previously played the role in a standby capacity from December 2021 through March 2024. 

The current Elphaba and Glinda, Mary Kate Morrisey and Alexandra Socha, will play their final performances on March 2. Additional new principal casting will be announced at a later date.

Wicked began previews on Broadway October 8, 2003, with an official opening October 30. The original cast included Tony winners Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth as, respectively, Elphaba and Glinda. Currently the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history, the production celebrated its 20th anniversary in October 2023.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.

The Joe Mantello-helmed production features musical staging by Wayne Cilento, scenic design by Eugene Lee, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Tony Meola, projections by Elaine J. McCarthy, wig and hair design by Tom Watson, music supervision and arrangements by Stephen Oremus, orchestrations by William David Brohn, and dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott. Casting is by the Telsey Office.

Wicked won 2004 Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical (Menzel), Best Costume Design (Hilferty), and Best Scenic Design (Lee).

The musical, which reopened on Broadway September 14, 2021, following the pandemic shutdown, is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt, and David Stone.

 
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